2020 Troytown Chase Tip by Dave Stevos
2020 Troytown Chase Tip
It was a tough day for us on Saturday but we at least landed one nice winner. Audarya won for us in the Fillies and Mares at the Breeders’ Cup at 12/1. It was a cracking ride by Pierre-Charles Boudot and he is a top drawer jockey. Extravagant Kid placed at 22/1 too, while Rhythmic Intent ran a cracker in 2nd at 28/1 at Doncaster. Unfortunately, the rest of our bets ran very disappointingly. The focus switches back to the jumps on Sunday. The Troytown Chase at Navan is a handicap that always attracts a quality field. Dave Stevos is keeping faith with an old favourite, check out his 2020 Troytown Chase Tip below…
Third Time Lucky
The 3 mile Troytown Chase looks as competitive as ever this year. Gigginstown House may be scaling back their interest in racing, but they still supply 9 of the 22 runners. Gordon Elliott trains 8 of those and he also runs another 2 for other owners. However, the one I like is trained by Philip Dempsey and at odds of 40/1, I think Mr Diablo could run a huge race for him against the big boys here. We were on when he was 2nd at 50s back in 2018 and while he only finished 7th last season, the ground was far too soft for him.
The nice recent weather should ensure that conditions are not too testing on Sunday. This horse is effective over shorter on heavy ground but at today’s distance he needs it better. It is yielding to soft at Navan with no more rain forecast and that should be fine for him. He does need to bounce back from a poor run at Galway last time out over an inadequate trip (18f), but that was surely a prep run for a repeat bid in the Troytown.
Well Handicapped
Mr Diablo’s previous outing at Galway at the festival was a much better effort over 22f. Racing off a mark of 128 he jumped boldly, raced prominently and he was only reeled in late on. That run showed that he retained his enthusiasm and after his below par run last time he was dropped 2lb, so he races off the same mark today.
When he was 2nd in 2018 to Tout Est Permis he was racing off 133. Last Year when 7th, he raced off 136. He is now 8lb lower and Philip Dempsey is likely to have him primed for this race. Yes, he is an 11yo and yes he hasn’t won a race since 2017, but he has loads of ability and he has been lightly raced for his age. If he jumps as well as he is capable of I think a massive run could be on the cards. With 6 places on offer from some firms, Mr Diablo is well worth backing each way at odds of 40/1.
